Assig noe to the



(NQ Model.)

W. P. BENHAM.

VELOGIPEDB.

No. 277,870. Patented May 22,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT O EEIcE.V

WILLIAM P. BENHAM, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIG'NOR TO THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, -`MASSACHUSETTS.n

VELOCIPEDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,870, dated May 22, 1883.

` nppneanonnieamarhas,1883. (Nummer.)

l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM` P. BENHAM, of the city of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Velocipedes, of which the `following is a specification.

I My improvements relate to the steering mechanism, and particularly to that class of steering mechanism in which the guidingwheel is held in forks terminating in the steering` head above the wheel, to which is connected handle-bars for direct operation of the guiding-wheel by pressure of the hands upon the handles. This class of mechanism is found in bicycles and sometimes intricycles and other velocipedes. I describe iny improvements as applied to a bicycle having a cylindrical head; and in the drawings annexed heretoy Figure 1 shows in elevation part of a cylindrical bicycle-head with handle-bar and handle (part of the handle-bar being broken oi') embodying my improvements in one form. Fig. 2 shows, partly in elevation and partlyin vertical section, the same things more in detail.

Heretofore it has been customary to make the handle-bar in one long rod, either solid or tubular, extending equally to either side the head, and held in lugs attached to the head, or else forming part of it, by screws or clamps. The handle-bar of this construction has been usually straight and slipped or driveninto and through the lugs for half its length, and then fastened. Sometimes the bars of this construction have heen bent or curved after heing putin place in the lug. They have been bent near the lug upward and then outward, so as to allow greater distance between the pedal and the handle-bar for room for the operation of't'he leg and thigh ofthe rider. They Vhave sometimes been curved first upward near the lug, then outward, and then again down-- ward, so as to secure the advantage ofspace t'or the leg and thigh of the rider, as in the other case, and also to carry the handle to the lower position, so that the arm of the rider should be nearer straight in riding. They have also been carried out straight from the lug for considerable distance, then bent downward, and

thenupward, so as to give a lower position for the handle, as in the preceding instance. `Handle-barshave also been made, both in straight and in curved form, in two pieces or halves, and screwed into the lug, the curvature being the same as above described, so as to make the position of the handle either higher or lower than the lug on the head of the bicycle.

and the bar or segmentvheing threaded and inserted in the lug, s o as to bring or ind a stop either at the inner end of the thread in the .lug or at the inner end of the thread on the handle-bar. Now, the difficulties with these forms of bars` are that in the case of the long or continuous bar first described, when it is desired that it4 shall be curved or bent, the bending must be done, on one side at least, after the bar isittedinto the lug, and this is a matter of great inconvenience and expense; and in the shorter or half-bar form the bar must either he bent after it has been inserted in the particular lug for which it is intended, and screwed home, in order to secure the desired position of the handle, or else, ifinserted after bending, must be threaded or filed, so as to make the particular fit for the particular lug with which it is to go.

Now, the objects ot my Improvements are,

first, to provide an interchangeable handle-barv which may be readily applied to either side of the head or to any machine without further fitting; second,to gain a firm securement in position and to strengthen the handle-bar at the lug, where it most needs it; third, to produce a universal dropped or curvedl handlebar, with which a handle may be set not only upward or downward in a vertical line, as has heretofore been done, but also either upward or downward or in.any position desired by the individual rider, in order to give him the most eicient and comfortable reach, and be capable of improved and tirm adjustment and se-.

IOO

Stock A is curved downward at b and outward at b', and has a tang, a, to receive the handle D, and has its opposite end formed to the threaded tenon m, adapted to be screwed into a threaded mortise in a lug, B.

. K is a movable adjusting-shoulder, bored and threaded to tit and be revolved upon the threaded tenon m, with its outward face in a plane at right angles to its bore, and adapted to t the upward face ofthe lug B, or be parallel with it. It may be preferred to make the tenon m of larger diameter than the part ofthe stock A annexed to it by the thickness ot' the thread to be turned on it, so that its diameter within the thread shall be equal to the diameter of the stock beyond the thread, though I think the need of that avoided by my improved shoulder, and also to make the stock A tapering slightly toward the talig, though I consider that unnecessary in a curved bar; but I prefer to make the length ot' the threaded tenon equal to the necessary entrance into the lng B for strength and security, and a t'ew threads for the movable shoulder K to operate upon,

and to form a bead, a, on themo'vable shoulder K for neatness of finish, and so that the shoulder with the bead will entirely cover the'part of the threaded teuon remaining outside of the lug. I make the movable shoulder K hexagonal in its outer contour for the application of a wrench; and I also make a square or Hattened end ofthe tang tutor thc application of a wrench.

A is a stock on a handle-bar, similar to A, and K is a movable adjusting-shoulder similar to K.

I make the handle-bar or half-bar, including a stock, tenon, and tang, of any desired form or curvature, and either slip the movable ad- 40 justing-shoulder K onto the stock over the tang before the handle is applied, when the tenon is of larger diameter, or else screw it backward over the tenon end onto the stock. I then put the handle on in its place. The handle-bar is then ready for application to either side ofthe machine, or to any other machine having a similar lug, B. To keep thel handle-bar in position, I insert the tenon in the mortise ofthe lug B, and screw it in by revolving the handlebar until it has sufciently entered the lug, and until the handle Dis in the desired position, either upward or downward, backward or movable adjusting-shoulder K tightly to the lug B. The handle-bar may be put in place also by means ofawrench applied to the square and flattened end of the tang a., the handle D heilig removed.

It is obvious that the movable shoulder K operates as a set-nut, as an adjusting-shoulder, and as a strengthening-brace for the bar or stock annexed to the lug. It is also obvious that the lug to which the bar is attached may be at any part of the head, or on' the fork below the head, and that the stock may be bent to any other form, may be hollow or solid, may be fitted with any handle, and that the movable shoulder K may be of any other exterior form, as desired, or may be separated from the lug by a washer, or maybe madein two parts v for greater certainty Yas aset-nut, and also that this contrivance may be applied to a tricycle or other velocipede, or to an open head as well as to the cylindrical head of a bicycle, as I have shown. This construction obviates the objections of previous forms; and secures the advantages, previously referred to, of an interchangeable universally-adjustablestrong and secure handle-bar, whether for a straight or a dropped or curved one.

I claim as new and of my invention- 1. An improved handle-bar for velocipedes, consisting in a stock, A, a tang, a, for a handle, a tenon, m, for a steering-head, and a movable adjusting-shoulder, K, constructed and adapted essentially as set forth.

2. The described improvement in dropped handle-bars for velocipedes, consisting, essentially, in making the stock in two bent pieces, A A', with tangs con the outer ends fitted for handles, and tenons mon the inner ends fitted for a lug or lugs on the steering-head, and in providing the stocks with movable adjustingshoulders K Kf, for securing them in desired position, essentially ,as set forth.

3. In a velocipede, the movable adjustingshoulder K, combined with the stock A,tenon m, and lug B, substantially as set forth.

- WILLIAM l. BENHAM. In presence of- WM. B. BROTHERTON,

GEO. B. GoBURN. 

